SAMRAT ASHOK

PART – 1

GREAT MAURYAN EMPIRE

GREAT MAURYAN EMPIRE

 EARLY LIFE

• Ashoka was born as Devanampriya Priyadarshi Samrat

Ashoka, in 304 BC, in Pataliputra (close to modern-day
Patna), to the second emperor of the Mauryan Dynasty
Bindusara and Subhadrangī .He was the grandson of
Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Maurya dynasty
and the builder of one of the largest empires in ancient
India.

• His mother was queen Subhadrangī. She gave him the

name Ashoka, meaning “one without sorrow”. Ashoka
had several elder siblings, all of whom were his half-
brothers from the other wives of his father Bindusara.
Ashoka was given royal military training.

• Born into a royal family, he was good at fighting since

childhood and received royal military training. Besides, he
was also excellent at hunting, evident from his ability to
kill a lion with only a wooden  rod.

RISE TO POWER
• Considered a fearless and heartless military leader, he
was deputed to curb the riots in the Avanti province of
the empire.He was appointed the Viceroy of Avanti
province in 286 BC after suppressing the uprising at
Ujjain.

• Chanakya, Bindusara’s chief advisor, destroyed the

nobles and kings of 16 towns and made himself the
master of all territory between the eastern and the
western seas. Bindusara’s death in 272 BCE led to a war
over succession.

• Bindusara wanted his elder son Susima to succeed him

but Ashoka was supported by his father’s ministers, who
found Susima to be arrogant and disrespectful towards
them.

• A minister named Radhagupta seems to have played an

important role in Ashoka’s rise to the throne.
Radhagupta, would later be appointed prime minister by
Ashoka once he had gained the throne.

RISE TO POWER

• The Dipavansa and Mahavansa refer to Ashoka’s killing

99 of his brothers, sparing only one, named Vitashoka or
Tissa, although there is no clear proof about this
incident .The coronation happened in 269 BCE, four years
after his succession to the throne.

• Buddhist legends state that Ashoka was bad-tempered

and of a wicked nature. He built Ashoka’s Hell, an
elaborate torture chamber described as a “Paradisal Hell”
due to the contrast between its beautiful exterior and the
acts carried out within by his appointed executioner,
Girikaa.
• Ascending the throne, Ashoka expanded his empire
over the next eight years, from the present-day Assam in
the East to Balochistan in the West; from the Pamir Knot
in Afghanistan in the north to the peninsula of southern
India except for present day Tamil Nadu and Kerala which
were ruled by the three ancient Tamil kingdoms.

MARRIAGES

• Ashoka is believed to have had five wives. They were

named Devi (or Vedisa-Mahadevi-Shakyakumari), the
second queen, Karuvaki, Asandhimitra(designated
agramahisī or “chief queen”), Padmavati, and
Tishyarakshita.

• He is similarly believed to have had four sons and two

daughters: Mahinda,Tivara , Kunala and Jalauka a
daughter  and another daughter named Charumati.

• After Ashoka’s accession, Mahendra headed a Buddhist

mission, sent probably under the auspices of the
Emperor, to Sri Lanka.

KALINGA WAR

• Even though the predecessors of Ashoka ruled over a

vast empire, the kingdom of Kalinga on the northeast
coast of India (present-day Odisha and North Coastal
Andhra Pradesh) never came under the control of the
Mauryan Empire. Ashoka wanted to change this and
invaded Kalinga for the same.

• The reasons for invading Kalinga were both political and

economic. Kalinga was a prosperous region consisting of
peaceful and artistically skilled people. Known as the
Utkala, Kalinga had important ports and a powerful navy.
They had an open culture and used a uniform civil code.

• Kalinga was under the rule of the Nanda Empire until

the empire’s fall in 321 BCE. Ashoka’s grandfather
Chandragupta Maurya had previously attempted to
conquer Kalinga, but had been repulsed. Ashoka set
himself to the task of conquering the newly independent
empire as soon as he felt he was securely established on
the throne.

KALINGA WAR

• He attacked Kalinga in 261 BC to further extend his

Empire and conquered it successfully, only to be shocked
to see the massive destruction caused in terms of both
property and human lives.

• The bloody war at Kalinga left over 100,000 soldiers

and civilians dead and more than 150,000 deported. This
large-scale killing of humans sickened Ashoka so much
that he vowed never to fight again and started practicing
non-violence.

• While the early part of Ashoka’s reign was apparently

quite bloodthirsty, he became a follower of the Buddha’s
teachings after his conquest of the Kalinga.

SAMRAT ASHOK
PART – 2

BUDDHISM

• While the early part of Ashoka’s reign was apparently

quite bloodthirsty, he became a follower of the Buddha’s
teachings after his conquest of the Kalinga. Kalinga was a
state that prided itself on its sovereignty and democracy.

• With its monarchical parliamentary democracy it was

quite an exception in ancient Bharata where there
existed the concept of Rajdharma. Rajdharma means the
duty of the rulers, which was intrinsically entwined with
the concept of bravery and dharma.

• From his 13th inscription, we come to know that the

battle was a massive one and caused the deaths of more
than 100,000 soldiers and many civilians who rose up in
defence; over 150,000 were deported.

• Nevertheless, his patronage led to the expansion of

Buddhism in the Mauryan empire and other kingdoms
during his rule, and worldwide from about 250 BCE.

DEATH

• Ashoka ruled for an estimated 36 years and died in 232

BCE.Legend states that during his cremation, his body
burned for seven days and nights.After his death, the
Mauryan dynasty lasted just fifty more years until his
empire stretched over almost all of the Indian
subcontinent.

• The reign of Ashoka Maurya might have disappeared

into history as the ages passed by, had he not left behind
records of his reign. These records are in the form of
sculpted pillars and rocks inscribed with a variety of
actions and teachings he wished to be published under
his name. The language used for inscription was in one of
the Prakrit “common” languages etched in a Brahmi
script.
• In the year 185 BCE, about fifty years after Ashoka’s
death, the last Maurya ruler, Brihadratha, was
assassinated by the commander-in-chief of the Mauryan
armed forces, Pushyamitra Shunga, while he was taking
the Guard of Honor of his forces. Pushyamitra Shunga
founded the Shunga dynasty (185-75 BCE) and ruled just
a fragmented part of the Mauryan Empire.

ASHOKA

• Ashoka had almost been forgotten, but in the 19th

century James Prinsep contributed in the revelation of
historical sources. After deciphering the Brahmi script,
Prinsep had originally identified the “Priyadasi” of the
inscriptions he found with the King of Ceylon
Devanampiya Tissa.

• However, in 1837, George Turnour discovered an

important Sri Lankan manuscript (Dipavamsa, or “Island
Chronicle” ).

• In particular, the Sanskrit Ashokavadana (‘Story of

Ashoka’), written in the 2nd century, and the two Pāli
chronicles of Sri Lanka (the Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa)
provide most of the currently known information about
Ashoka.

• Additional information is contributed by the Edicts of

Ashoka, whose authorship was finally attributed to the
Ashoka.

SPREAD OF BUDDHISM

• As a Buddhist emperor, Ashoka believed that Buddhism

is beneficial for all human beings as well as animals and
plants, so he built a number of stupas, Sangharama,
viharas, chaitya, and residences for Buddhist monks all
over South Asia and Central Asia.

• He ordered the construction of 84,000 stupas to house

the Buddha’s relics. He sent his only daughter
Sanghamitra and son Mahindra to spread Buddhism in Sri
Lanka.

• At the end of the Third Buddhist Council, Ashoka sent

Buddhist missionaries to nine parts of the world to
propagate Buddhism. Ashoka helped to construct Sanchi
and Mahabodhi Temple.

ADMINISTRATION

• Ashoka’s military power was strong, but after his

conversion to Buddhism, he maintained friendly relations
with three major Tamil kingdoms in the South—namely,
Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas.

• Ashoka’s rock edicts declare that injuring living things is

not good, and no animal should be sacrificed for
slaughter. He imposed a ban on killing of “all four-footed
creatures that are neither useful nor edible”, and of
specific animal species including several birds, certain
types of fish and bulls among others.

• He also banned killing of female goats, sheep and pigs

that were nursing their young; as well as their young up
to the age of six months. Ashoka also abolished the royal
hunting of animals and restricted the slaying of animals
for food in the royal residence.

• Ashoka has been described as “one of the very few

instances in world history of a government treating its
animals as citizens who are as deserving of its protection
as the human residents”

ADMINISTRATION

ADMINISTRATION(Chakra)

• The Ashoka Chakra (the wheel of Ashoka) is a depiction

of the Dharmachakra (the Wheel of Dharma). The wheel
has 24 spokes which represent the 12 Laws of Dependent
Origination and the 12 Laws of Dependent Termination.

• The Ashoka Chakra has been widely inscribed on many

relics of the Mauryan Emperor, most prominent among
which is the Lion Capital of Sarnath and The Ashoka Pillar.
• The most visible use of the Ashoka Chakra today is at
the centre of the National flag of the Republic of India
(adopted on 22 July 1947), where it is rendered in a Navy-
blue color on a White background, by replacing the
symbol of Charkha (Spinning wheel) of the pre-
independence versions of the flag.

• The Ashoka Chakra can also been seen on the base of

the Lion Capital of Ashoka which has been adopted as the
National Emblem of India.

ADMINISTRATION

• The four animals in the Sarnath capital are believed to

symbolise different steps of Lord Buddha’s life.

• The Elephant represents the Buddha’s idea in reference

to the dream of Queen Maya of a white elephant entering
her womb.

• The Bull represents desire during the life of the Buddha

as a prince.

• The Horse represents Buddha’s departure from palatial

life.

• The Lion represents the accomplishment of Buddha.

FALL OF ASHOKA